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Enable Always Offline Mode for Files in Windows 10

Windows 10 includes a feature called Offline Files that allows making network files and folders available offline when you’re not connected to that network. This feature is very useful when you need to access network resources while offline. You can mark a file or a folder as 'always available offline' to keep its copy stored on your computer. Here is how it can be done.

What is Offline Files

Offline Files makes network files available to a user, even if the network connection to the server is unavailable or slow. When working online, file access performance is at the speed of the network and server. When working offline, files are retrieved from the Offline Files folder at local access speeds. A computer switches to Offline Mode when:

Always Offline mode has been enabled

The server is unavailable

The network connection is slower than a configurable threshold

The user manually switches to Offline Mode by using the Work offline button in File Explorer.

What is Always Offline Mode

Always Offline mode provides faster access to files and lower bandwidth usage by always working offline, even when connected through a high-speed network connection. Windows updates files in the Offline Files cache by synchronizing hourly in the background, by default.

The Always Offline mode provides the following benefits:

Users experience faster access to files in redirected folders, such as the Documents folder.

Switch its view to either "Large icons" or "Small icons" as shown below.

Find the Sync Center icon.

Open Sync Center and click on the link Manage offline files on the left.

Click on the View your offline files button.

In the Offline Files folder, navigate to the network file or folder you want to disable the always available offline feature for. Right-click on it, and uncheck (turn off) the Always available offline by clicking on it.

The network file or folder will now no longer have a sync overlay icon, so the Always Available Offline is now disabled for that file/folder.

About Sergey Tkachenko

Sergey Tkachenko is a software developer from Russia who started Winaero back in 2011. On this blog, Sergey is writing about everything connected to Microsoft, Windows and popular software. Follow him on Facebook, Twitter or Google+.